Seventy per cent of contact centres have changed outbound operations following Ofcom's silent call regulations

  • ProtoCall One unveils the results of its Webinar survey
  • Polled outbound diallers one year after the Ofcom ruling
  • Ofcom impressed by response but determined not to "take eye off the ball"

ProtoCall One, the UK's premier systems integration consultancy for the contact centre industry, has unveiled the results of its webinar on silent calls, which polled outbound dialler contact centres one year after Ofcom's new regulations on silent calling were introduced. The survey reveals that 70 per cent of contact centres have changed their outbound operations over the last 12 months in response to Ofcom's revised March 2006 regulations on outbound calls. The results also show that only 20 per cent of the attendees could claim the new rules have had 'no impact' on their outbound operations.

The results of the ProtoCall One survey come just over a year after Ofcom published a new policy on persistent misuse of outbound diallers. It asserted that a company using diallers for outbound operations must have a call abandonment rate of no more than three per cent on live calls within any 24 hour period. Additionally, contact centres must ensure that, in the event of a silent call, a brief recorded information message must be played within two seconds of the call being answered.

Frank Phillips, Consumer Manager at Ofcom, commented: "A couple of years ago silent calls were becoming a real menace, and had risen to unacceptable levels. There have been significant efforts to comply with our new regulations so far - the industry as a whole has clearly invested in dramatically cutting down on silent calls. However, we cannot be complacent - BT and Ofcom still receive a large number of complaints each month. Ofcom has just this week extended its ongoing, market-wide investigation by a further six months and will continue to take rigorous action against the worst offenders."

"The survey shows that Ofcom has been successful in its objective to get contact centres to reduce the number of silent calls they produce," commented Simon Gresswell, Director of Professional Services at ProtoCall One. "The genuine threat of financial penalties - as well as the bad publicity of being 'named and shamed' by Ofcom - has forced the contact centre industry to take action. As a consequence, many companies have invested heavily in new dialler technology, believing this to be the only way to avoid being prosecuted. However, this isn't the case - as T-Mobile demonstrated at the webinar: the most important step an organisation can take is to implement effective business processes into outbound operations. This way you will comply with Ofcom regulations and add considerable value to your contact centre."

ProtoCall One's silent calls webinar took place on 25th April 2007, and featured speakers from Ofcom, T-Mobile and Genesys. As well as discussing the technicalities of Ofcom's latest rules, topics of debate included the operational, legal and technological aspects of developing new business processes around the regulations. ProtoCall One’s consulting expertise helps companies to identify the key business strategies to both comply with new laws and enhance an entire outbound operation.

To watch an online recording of the webinar, please click here

About ProtoCall One
ProtoCall One is UK's premier systems integration consultancy for the contact centre industry. It is the leading independent advisor to the country's top telecommunications service providers, helping them develop advanced network-based solutions for large contact centres. It is also widely recognised as the 'Number One' professional services and support organisation for the industry-leading Genesys Call Centre Solutions. ProtoCall One helps organisations to identify and resolve the technical and business issues involved in integrating contact centres into mainstream business processes, with a strong focus on financial services, telecommunications, travel and public sector markets. Additional information is available at www.pc-1.co.uk or for more information please contact:

Cynthia Thompson
Marketing Manager
ProtoCall One
Tel: 0870 204 2613
cthompson@pc-1.co.uk

Manuela Whittaker
IBA, PR for ProtoCall One
Tel: 01780 721433
mwhittaker@iba-europe.com

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